Golds Gym - Aiken

I was severely disappointed in trying to cancel my membership. I sent the certified letter to their headquarters in Augusta, GA as directed. The monthly charges stopped for one month. Then they started right up again and I sent another certified letter with a cease and desist order. They stopped drafting for a few months. Then it started up again charging $20 a month. Sent another letter and they stopped for a month or two again. Then 3-4 months go by and they started charging again and every other month and sporadically charging even after sending several certified letters. I finally had to put a stop payment order on them from my bank. They called continuing to say it needed to be paid, I then called the TV channel to complain about Gold's Gym still charging after months of letters and phone calls proving we had cancelled. The TV station did a story on this and found people all around the CSRA who the gym was still charging even though they had all cancelled by certified litter. They did this to me and then started on my husband's account. They don't want to cancel memberships and are hard to get rid of. They now have an outside accounting service that does the billing and they had been instructed to do the billing and charges. The lady at the new finance company was wonderful and told us how to send a final cancellation letter that will end it finally. It shouldn't have taken from 2011 to 2014 - 3 very long years - to get these two accounts cancelled and straightened out. Whoever the owners or accountants were - who were mismanaging I hope have been replaced so this stops. Ask and Know how to cancel before you ever start or sign a contract.

The regular membership includes access to the primary work out area. The area gets kind of crowded in the afternoons Monday-Friday but I have seen worse. The only time you'll have trouble getting equipment is on Mondays and Wednesdays in the 5:00 to 7:00 PM time slot particularly in the first few months of the year. Some of the equipment is older but breakdowns are generally repaired within either a few days or a week. The staff are very friendly but the people who do billing for the gym membership are separate from the people who do billing for training sessions. It can be tedious to pay your bill for the gym access and its generally more tedious to pay your bill if you have a trainer. They started my training sessions off with a guy who was planning to leave 3 months after I started so I got to work with 2 of the trainers the first of whom now lives in Alabama. The original sales man and the first trainer were definitely expecting me to only be in there to look sexier but the second trainer (who is the head trainer) believed me when I told him that I just wanted to feel strong and healthy.

He is an excellent trainer but he is leaving for medical school. It's a gym. It's not any more or less special than any other gym. They have the tools and their keeper is in the watch.

I have been in Aiken, for over two (2) years; I am glad there is a Gold's Gym Locally. I have traveled worldwide with Bechtel before I retired recently. I have been an member in many states and always welcome the 'OPEN 24 Hours" format. The Gym in Aiken offers training as well as class exercise participation. Some of the equipment is older and starting to show it's wear and tear. The Staff is cordial and welcoming. There is a tendency to not fully recognize the aspects of overall safety of members; i.e. often the emergency exits are blocked and members routinely exercise in the particular area-Gold's Needs to monitor all safety concerns

Not open 24/7 Programs are generic not people friendly dont join

"24 Hours on Weekdays" - False Advertising. Friday is a weekday. It wouldn't kill them to extend Friday hours to midnight. Ifyou look on the BBB website they have an "F" rating. I'd take that to heart before you think about signing a contract with them. Over crowded to the point of being dangerous during certain classes. I wanted to try Zumba, but after watching people fall over and nearly kick the person next to them it didn't seem safe or fun. Every visit something was out. I'd have to try three ellipticals to find one that worked. The hot tub would be out of order, or some other piece of equipment would be down. Because of this the "new" side was generally packed to the point of being uncomfortable. Extremely poor customer service. Be sure if you want to cancel you pick up their form (that they didn't tell me about) well in advance. My contract clearly stated that once I fulfilled my financial obligation of the two years I could cancel "At any time" with written notice. I was not aware it had to be some specific form, or that "any time" meant "30 days". What was not on my contract was that you had to give them 30 days notice. The only mention of this 30 days is if you are canceling your active contract (during the two years) for any of the listed reasons on the back of the contract. It does not mention it applies to already fulfilled contracts. I filled out their form and due to the postal service (Since you can't just give it to the Aiken Gym, it has to go through North Augusta) it was three days late. I was still charged the next month. I called and all three people I spoke to chanted the "30days" mantra and were downright rude. Reported to them to the BBB and they made no effort to respond or remedy the situation. I worked in customer service for three years. Three days was not a big deal to refund someone their money if it meant avoiding a BBB complaint or a complaint such as this. UPDATE: Gold's Gym informed the BBB that I was not a customer with them, conveniently after my auto drafts ended (as such I am no longer a customer because of this). They refused to respond prior to this. I now have to submit a copy of my contract, which I do have, as well as the financial information that shows where they improperly billed me in order for the complaint to remain on the BBB site. BAD COMPANY DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING WITH THEM.

I think it is a good gym; they have a lot of equipment that is well maintained. They upgrade their equipment periodically and the facility is always clean; which I appreciate. It is a large facility with cardio machines and a pool. At peak times it can be harder to get your equipment right away but it is never that big of a wait. The price is very good and it is competitive. They are almost always open 24 hours and it is safe and neat. The staff is friendly.